Correspondence from Henry Hamilton

  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 133 HAM/1/4/6
  • Dates of Creation
      1790-1793
  • Physical Description
      6 items. Condition: HAM/1/4/6/1 has been damaged and is missing some text.

Scope and Content

Henry Hamilton was born c.1734, the son of Henry Hamilton, who was a Member of the Irish Parliament for St Johnstown and later County Donegal, and his wife Mary née Dawson. Henry grew up in Cork. He was later commissioned into the 15th Regiment of Foot in the British Army and won distinction in the French and Indian War at the battles of Louisburg and Quebec. He later became the British Lieutenant Governor at Detroit, then Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, Governor of Bermuda and then Governor of Dominica. He died in 1795, aged 61 leaving a 25-year-old wife, Elizabeth Lee, and one daughter, Mary Anne Pierpoint Hamilton.

Henry Hamilton addresses Mary Hamilton as 'cousin' in one of his letters. A number of the letters are addressed to John Dickenson. He writes of his family including Sir William Hamilton, of Mary Hamilton and his admiration for her, and of his views on life. He describes his isolation in Bermuda and his enjoyment of receiving letters and news from his European friends. The letters contain anecdotes about family and friends and about his life in Bermuda. He describes the flowers and plants that he grows; he writes about his servants; and he recalls his memories of Derbyshire, describing Chatsworth House as 'a tiresome piece of old dignity and bad taste' (HAM/1/4/6/3).

Hamilton also writes on the subject of the 'marriage state' and 'love', writing to John Dickenson that although the state of marriage may be happy 'being always in love, tis something like always being hungry which is impossible' (HAM/1/4/6/5). He continues on the subject of how some of his acquaintances view their wives.

Arrangement

The correspondence is arranged in chronological order.